from 1999-2005? well, international cycling union has just begin us the answer, no one. the titles won by lance armstrong which were stripped away are not going to be reassigned and he wants armstrong to give back the money that he earned. cnn "newsroom" continues right now. all eyes today on hurricane sandy barreling northward. we have to talk about florida, because parts of florida now, under this tropical storm warning, also in virginia, the governor there already declaring a state of emergency. so in just a moment we'll give you the brand new update of the storm's path. but first we have to talk politics here. the latest poll numbers confirm this will be a nail biter of a kpgs election. today the two campaigns were all about this one specific number. that number? 2%. that is the annual rate at which

the nation's gdp grew from july until september. it's really the broadest grade on how the economy is doing. if you talk to the president about this, he says it's more proof of the recovery. since it was last 1.3%. but his challenger is also using 2% in his favor. no surprise. mitt romney just gave an economic speech in ames, iowa at a small construction business that as it turns out received nearly $2 million from obama's stimulus programs. so let's go straight to gloria borgeer who i know is watching the speech. my question number one for you is this. i didn't hear a lot new in the speech. i'm guessing you didn't hear much new in the speech either. so given that fact, isn't it a bit risky, though, to introduce new policy here with 10, 11 days

to go? isn't this really about getting voters excited getting out to vote? >> it's about getting independent voters to really take a look at you as somebody who is reasonable. as you said, this is really not about new ideas. this is about a different tone, a different kind of appeal. talking about change. i mean, four years ago. remember, barack obama was the candidate of change. you can't do that when you're the incumbent but it's easy to do when you're the challenger. so you make the case for change. you admit, as mitt romney did, that barack obama was kind of dealt a bad hand, but then you say, you know what? he didn't do enough to get us out of this. he didn't do what he needed to do. and i'm optimistic, show some optimism to voters, that you can do a better job in the future. so really this wasn't so much about, you know, specific policy prescriptions. nothing new right now. this was more about the mood music. to appeal to these independents.

>> i want to hit pause on this conversation. speaking of the mood music, i want to play a little chunk. this is mitt romney speaking in aims, iowa, moments ago. >> in just four short year he borrowed $6 trillion nearly, adding almost as much debt held by the public as all prior american presidents combined. he forced obama care and adding thousands of dollars to every family's health care bill. he launched an onslaught of new regulations often to the delight of the banks and corporations but to the detriment of the businesses that create 2/3 of our jobs. new business starts they're at a 30-year lou because entrepreneurs and investors are sitting at the side lines weary from the president's new regulations and proposed massive tax increases.

many families can't get mortgages and entrepreneurs can't get loans because of dodd frank regulations. the president invested taxpayer your money, your money in green companies now failed that met his fansy and were sometimes owned by his largest campaign contributors. he spent billions of taxpayer dollars which only added to our debt. energy prices are up because energy production is down. he rejected the keystone pipeline from canada and cut in half drilling permits and leases. the problem with the obama economy is not what he inheri d inherited. it's with a misguided policies that slowed the recovery and caused millions of americans to endure lengthy unemployment and poverty. that's why 15 million more of our fellow citizens are on food stamps than when president obama

took office. that's why 3 million more women are now living in poverty. that's why nearly one in six americans today is poor. that's why the economy is stagnant. today we received by the way of latest round of discouraging economic news. last quarter our economy grew at just 2%. after the sim lus was passed, the white house promised the economy would now be growing at 4.3%. over twice as fast. slow economic growth means slow job growth and declining take-home pay. >> mitt romney just referencing that the gdp news that we just got in today. and ali velshi, let me bring you in. we've learned now that the gdp grew 2% last quarter, the anticipation was that it would be up 1.7. so team obama can say this is great news. we just heard team romney saying this is disappointing. cut through the spin. what does this mean for you and

me? >> they're both right. 2% is way better news than 1.7, it's also substantially better news than 1.3 which was the last quarter so we're going in the right direction and we're going a little faster in the right direction. it's not 4%, which is what mitt romney says he would like to have. % would be really good. that claim that mitt romney keeps making about 12 million jobs in four years, that's based on 4% growth. if you had 4% growth, you could get that. i keep claiming if it happens, i'll wear a dress for a week. what we still don't have is a res pay as to how you get to that % growth. but at least people can start to think about it this way. 2% growth is not a good economy. it's better than 1.7 or 1.3 but it's not a good economy. 4% growth would be a good economy. china is above 7% growth. india is above 6%. we're not going to get to those rates. if america had 4% growth, we'd be cooking with gas.

>> here's hoping america gets to see ali velshi in a dress. >> it would be a good day for america if i have to keep that promise. >> we want to talk about the jobs numbers because when you look at the latest polls, they keep giving mitt romney the edge in who would do better when you ask americans who would do better in terms of the economy. but the big jobless report, the final one, the last one before the election day, is it really do or die? that's the big number. >> in a race this tight it might be do or die. i would normally say it affects you on the margins. i can't believe the poll numberers that we keep seeing. i'm going around talking to americans there are a small number of voters who could decide how this election goes and about half of them say who is better for the economy, the larger economy, gdp growth. >> why are you doing air quotes on the economy? >> because i mean the big economy, the things you measure,

durable goods, imports and exports, things like that, as opposed to your job, which is the biggest component of your economy. so that's the distinction that, who is better for the economy and who is better for me and my job. and i think a lot of voters are trying to weigh those two against each other but the jobs are going to win and both have made the same promise. 12 million jobs in four years and both of them depend on the same thing. europe not going into the toilet and 4% growth occurring. and that's not something a president can have all together that much to do with. they can affect us on the edges. >> thank you. i want to bring back gloria borger because here we are strategy wise, 11 days left. you have spent quite a bit of time with the woman who has been industrial, ann romney. tell me more about that. >> she mass become their secret weapon here. you know mitt romney has a large

problem with women voters. aven romney is out there trying to appeal to women. she's also sort of been mitt romney's character witness. because his big problem has been that average voters say he doesn't care about my problems. he doesn't understand my problems. he's too rich, he's too out of touch. he doesn't get it. so an ann romney's job is to humanize him and say he does care about you. you heard a little more of that at the convention, you heard it in the debates. so now the message is two pronged. yes, i can talk about the economy, but yes i also understand your problems and we'll see if more and more people believe that he does. because he runs substantially behind the president when it comes to economic empathy, if you will. and she's part of that plan to

get people to think that he does get it. >> well, we'll be hearing much more from this secret weapon. i know tomorrow we can watch the interview with ann romney tomorrow night. 7:30 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. suddenly, race, sex and virginity becoming part of the conversation between these two campaigns. we're going to get to that in a moment. coming up next, bracing for hurricane sandy, this monster storm targeting the east coast, especially in the northeast. i have a brand new update fresh from the weather center. chad myers all over it, next. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one.

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. now to hurricane sandy. there are tropical storm warnings and watches in effect all the way from florida to south carolina. and in anticipation of sandy slamming into virginia, the governor there just declared a state of emergency. sandy has already claimed nearly two dozen lives across the caribbean. we can look at it here swirling. this is obviously from space.

this hurricane so huge, it would cover the distance from memphis, tennessee to los angeles. just to give you some perspective here. chad myers, obviously this thing is huge. how bad does it look? >> and that's the issue. it's going to have a very big wind field. even 400 miles away from the eye we could have wind gusts over hurricane force. everybody is going to get hit with something. there will be so many trees down, power lines down. it will be days before everybody gets back power. >> we just said virginia state of emergency and there's fears that the temperatures would be so, so cold much are we talking snow? >> not virginia, but west virginia for sure. ohio, the western side of pennsylvania, not so much the poconos, i don't think. because as the hurricane comes in, it will bring in warm air with it. the cold air will be on the west

side, michigan and ohio. that's where the snow might be. but this thing still has a lot to evolve. >> we're still talking monday, tuesday, right? >> we are. you asked me what i do expect. i said there are computer models out there, they're just finishing now. there's one that goes up into long island and does terrible things. there is he another one into washington, d.c. and not too bad. those are the outliers. where does one go and where does one start and where does one end. that's the point. the storm doesn't look that good right now. there's a lot of dry air in here. this is great news. this storm looks terrible overnight, too. the forecast is for it to stay in the warm water of the atlantic and the gulf stream. from long island back to north carolina. it's the wind field i'm concerned about and of course

storm surge and flooding. but when you have high pressure out here in michigan and low pressure here, when these lines get so close together, the winds could be 80 to 100 miles per hour in a wide swath of the northeast. >> i think of iron and there was so much inland flooding issues, especially in the northeast vermont could that be a problem here? >> it could. one of the models turns this whole thing, stops it over pennsylvania for about 24 hours. and then sends it up. so if you can imagine an inch of rain an hour for 24 hours, i can do that math. that's a flood. >> chad, thank you. we'll keep talking about that for sure. just ahead, here more fallout today. the latest development will rewrite history books. yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life.

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and again here, a new rock bottom for lance armstrong. hours ago cycling's governing body asked armstrong to return all the prize money for his seven nullified tour de france wins. history books will now show no winner from 1999 through 2005.

those are the years armstrong won allegedly with the help of drugs. he's been dumped by so many major sponsors, so let's talk to cnn sports anchor, in terms of this prize money, how much are we talking about here? >> reporter: i think it's 5 to $7 million. much of it is still disputable because it depends on bonuses and that sort of thing. but it's no doubt another blow to lance armstrong. interesting to see the world governing body making this statement after a board meeting earlier today. we heard from them earlier in the week when they confirmed armstrong's lifetime ban from the sport as well as stripping him of the titles after they ratifying what the antidoping agency said said about him taking drugs. as well as asking for the prize

money back, as well as saying no other rider should be awarded the titles instead of armstrong, because we know that doping is wide spread and they couldn't be sure any of the runners up were free of taking drugs as well. there's going to be a fully independent external commission set up to examine themselves. they want an independent commission to look at how they run the sport in a desperate attempt to answer the critics who say the president should step down. >> the fact that they're not elevating any other cyclists because they can't figure out if there are any other clean cyclists who would have woven that price. number three, in terms of lance armstrong, lost his reputation, resigned from his cancer charity, gotten dumped by sponsors, but he's stail staying pretty quiet. do you think he will ever come

forward, say anything about all these allegations? >> it's hard to believe that he can continue to deny it until he goes to the grave. but i wouldn't bet against it. this guy who has proved throughout his career ha he will never say that he will quit. although he did quit when it came to trying to stand up in a sports court or even in a legal court and answer any of these allegations. he may yet have to if some of the companies that have mentioned about taking possible legal action, they're going to take all that united states anti-doping evidence and bring it forward in which case armstrong really will have to face the music. i suspect when he's really running out of money. maybe the money to be made is in the admitting it all business and asking for forgiveness. >> he said life's been better and life's been worse and that's

all we've heard from him so far. thank you so much. we appreciate it. tomorrow night on this story here, we are airing, it is a powerful documentary all about lance armstrong reviewing this case against him. it's called "the world according to lance armstrong" 9:00 eastern right here on cnn. money might be the key to this election. mitt romney outraising president obama recently big time. with 11 days left, what are the republicans going to spend the cash on? where exactly will they spend it? does it give mitt romney an advantage? that's next. this new phone is amazing. i'm watching natalie's ballet recital and i'm pulling photos right from the video. great idea, we can pick one and frame it! here, watch this. she nails almost every move. our old camera could never do this. she's so good at ballet. i think she's the best in the class. where is she by the way?

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bullets and bombs today

shattered syria's ceasefire. you can see the smoke at the end of the straight, state media say at least five people were killed, 32 injured. rebels say ten people were killed, most of them children. the ceasefire was supposed to last the length of the muslim holiday. the syrian army says the rebels attacked first today and government forces returned fire. more than 32 thousand people have died in syria's civil war. opposition groups say at least 70 people were killed today across the country. and a reunion to tell you about for the pakistan teenager shot in the head by a taliban triggerman for standing up for a girl's rights to get an education. malala's parents and brother are

by her bed side here in a uk hospital. her father, who arrived from pakistan just last night, spoke of the emotional roin. >> i love her and of course this morning, last night when we met her, there were tears in our eyes. and they were out of happiness, i say. out of happiness. >> the shooting has sparked widespread outrage. thousands have protested just across pakistan alone. her father vows to return with his family back to pakistan. >> when she fell, pakistan stood and the world rest. and this is a turning point. >> the doctors say she is progressing well. her head wound is no longer infected and she doesn't apair

to have any brain damage. how about that? point blank she was shot. her vision and hearing also both good. her father said she's asking for her school books. italy's former prime minister has been sentenced for four years for tax froud. he was guilty of tax evasion involving his television and media empire. he may not end up serving any prison time at all. why? because the case dates back to 2006 and the statute of limitations is set to expire next year. prove proof, proof of mitt romney's momentum, not just in the polls, but in donations. in just the first half of this month alone, toem romney says it's brought in $112 million. where will the gop spend it?

let's talk to peter hanby. >> we just learned today that the romney campaign made a small ad in minnesota and the obama campaign went up in minnesota. this could be seen as a little bluff by the romney campaign. no one thinks minnesota is going to go republican, but basically the spending is going to be focused on television and get out the vote operations. ohio being the central focus of the campaign right now. but speaking of tv, both campaigns acknowledged at this point. tv ads aren't really moving numbers. they're kind of there to hold things the way they stand. most of the effort is right now in this campaign is going into early voting, absentee voting and preparing for election day. that is sort of a mobilization election rather than one that's going to be based odd persuading

a large amount of independent voters. >> president obama himself early voted himself in chicago and on him, his whole in terms of dollars and cents, it's impressive, not as quite as high as mitt romney. what has the obama campaign received so far here in october? >> yeah. the first couple of weeks in okay, they pulled in about $90 million. they announced. that's less than mitt romney, but they are showing donations from new donors. most of their money this year, more than half, has come from small donors in this campaign. but you pointed out just a moment ago, brooke, what this romney number demonstrates is that burst of momentum that he got after the first presidential debate. on october 3rd. when the republicans were openly talking about abond onning mitt romney, sending their money to senate and house races. >> that changed. >> it really changed in that

first debate and it's reflected in the poll numbers and as we're seeing the money. >> what about the big picture. the money i understand totally breaking records? >> yeah. we're on pace to break a billion dollars raised. >> a billion with a "b"? >> with a "b." between both the obama and romney campaigns. we're at the point in the race right now where the money is coming in and they're spending it immediately. what's really surprising to me is this is just money for the campaigns and they're affiliated committees. the campaign money has capped donations at $2500 apiece. the committees can raise substantially more than that but not as much as the soft money air of politics. it is pretty striking with those restrictions in place, they've managed to each hit this billion dollars threshold. and this is not counting all the outside groups we've focused on this year, labor unions and some

of the more conservative groups. >> wow. peter hanby. speaking of money, it is pouring in here for the u.s. senate race in virginia. the winner there could be the difference between which party controls the senate next year. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally. prand you're seeing that rightno quit in amnow.a... over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the...

last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye.

all right. you know this. we've been talking a lot here about this tight presidential race, but there are several other very very important races here nationwide, the margin really is razor thin. case in point virginia. the battle between these two former governors could be decided by a few thousand voters. look at the numbers right now. tim kaine leads by just one single point. but look a little closer here. a week earlier, october 3rd, kaine had a five-point lead.

so let's go straight to virginia to bill fitzgerald. welcome. >> great to be here. >> i worked in charles lots vil, i have interviewed both these men's. virginians know both of them very well. it's so close, so late in the game. are there really any undecides left? >> that's a great question. as you say, they're very popular former governors. george allen fighting to get his senate seat back which he lost in 2006. they have had debates going back to 2006. it's razor thin. but one of the interesting aspects of that, for kaine he has always retained a greater distance. even as the presidential race tightened up here, kaine managed

to keep himself afloat. so the two races are not really moving on parallel tracks. that's one of the interesting aspects of that. as you mentioned they could be separated by a few thousand votes. well, tim kaine says i'm expect to go get a few thousand voters from the split voters. >> well, bill you also know very well, outside money, cha ching, cha ching, it is pouring into swing states in record amounts, like virginia, the snoot senate tops all others. what exactly are the outside dollars buying? >> lots of air time. and they're doing all the dirty, heavy lifting. any commercial break you'll see two or three spots from these outside groups. according to the ones that are for george allen, tim kaine is

nothing but a taxer. all he wants to do is tax. and the ones for kaine talking about allen say he's just a big spender so apparently we can't afford either of these guys. >> let's talk the nasty level of the campaign here. we're going to play part of this debate. question on simpson bowles. >> is it no and no? >> if it's as is, we're both saying no. >> now we have agreement and this may be the only time we have agreement. >> i love how the moderator says am i getting this right? bill give me some context there and are they agreeing on t that? >> tim kaine is careful to portray himself as a bipartisan figure. he would say sim sons bowles was

in the right direction. i think $2 to $3 worth of cuts for every dollar of revenue is good. for his part. allen says that was a framework but he uses it to say why did the president abandon it? why didn't anybody push for it? it's not exactly clear how much he would accept in revenue increases. they do agree sort of in the middle. >> since i have you and we're talking virginia. last presidential debate, the president. >> you mention the navy, we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. well governor we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed. >> you know this, virginia, home to the largest u.s. naval base, norfolk, not too far down the road from you, huge military voting block in that state. how did that resonate with voters? >> well, it is a big deal here. you talk to fans, that is pretty

much the number one deal. even the senate race, too. tim kaine careful to say he would not cut any programs. joorge allen says he'll basically fight to the death to protect all the jobs in defense and protect supremecy in defense for that matter. defense is very big. it went over interestingly, let's say. because obviously the military has changed. but defense is a very very big deal here. >> bill fitzgerald. we'll be following that race there in virginia. wtvr, we appreciate it. let's talk about this massive storm. up and down the seabored. hurricane sandy already claimed more than 20 lives. the latest after this. no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity,

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let's get you up to date

here on hurricane sandy. it is going to be a long weekend of watching and waiting up and down the east coast. look at this driver, deciding to go for it, i guess. this is ft. lauderdale. storm warnings, watches already in place in florida, south carolina, in virginia. just a couple of hours ago the governor there declared the state of emergency warning his state that sandy could hit hard. this could begin as early as tomorrow night. people are listening very closely because sandy has already proven deadly killing 21 people across the caribbean and just this last hour she weakened just a bit. it is still hurricane strength. look at this picture from space. if sandy is so huge it would cover the distransfwr madam fis tennessee to l.a. we'll talk to chad myers in a little bit more about sandy.

for now, a robot with common sense. i know it sounds hard to believe. but a boston company is using artificial intelligence to change how robots are used in factories, and joe carter has this tech know vegas . >> reporter: they've come a long way since the scene in "i love lucy." and it's about to change a lot more. meet baxter. >> baxter is a super easy to use robot that can do all sorts of different tasks in a manufacturing environment. loading things into machines, packing things into boxes. >> reporter: the company says it uses common sense. >> how safe ask it? >> let me git in the robot's way. see what happened? he just stopped. a typical robot would have kept on going. >> reporter: it stands six feet

tall, has two flexible arm with grippers and a face that shows emotions. it makes it easy to see if he's working, confused, needs help. >> reporter: baxter can be programmed just about anyone. >> i told him to pick it up here, move it over here. >> reporter: they've been designing the rebot for four years. in companies have been testing it in their factories. >> we hard to make sure he's safe and trainable. >> reporter: baxter is selling for about $22,000 and about to arrive in u.s. factories. the question is, will it take people's jobs? rethink robotics says no, if you take baxter, he does the simple tax, the person who was doing that can now do a more highly skilled task. >> reporter: joe carter, boston.

this was the cover of "the des moines register" yesterday. it's making folks really upset. this is a key state, we'll tell you why and we'll break down what iowa means for each campaign. [ male announcer ] how do you make america's favorite recipes?

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mitt romney has wrapped up his big speech on the economy in ames, iowa. iowa gets more campaign love on monday. the first lady is going to be making her sixth visit to iowa. also, iowa has gone democratic in all but one presidential election since 1988. it has picked the winner in seven out of the last 10 presidential contests and went heavily for obama just four years ago. but this year iowa and its six electoral votes very much up for

grabs. let's talk to carol hunter. she's the senior news director with "the des moines register." as we mentioned, your state pretty good at picking presidents. huge for obama four years ago. tell me why this state is so important in this presidential race. >> well, it's pretty much like ohio in that it's very much a toss-up state. all the polls are showing it pretty much dead even. there's a rassmussen report that has them both within 48%. it's just going to be close, close right down to the wire. and how precious those six electoral votes are shows how close the entire nation campaign is. >> can we take about the front page of your paper? this is from yesterday. i want the viewers to look at it first here. obama on the left, romney on the

right. i understand it's created quite the flap. people are complaining that obama looks more presidential and he looks like he's skouling. what does that say to you? what has this race come to? >> once again, it's all about how intense people are feeling here in iowa. we were covering dueling appearances. both candidates were in the state on wednesday. the address by obama, i think both pictures adequately and very appropriately captured the type of event. obama gave a teleprompt ter speech. that picture shows him working the crowd and he has an intense look on his face. romney it was sort of a drop-in. it was at an hangar at an airport. the reporters who were there

talked about the sound reverberating loudly off the walls and he was very optimis c optimistic. he looked very relaxed. and those two pictures captured it. some people said we were trying to make a statement about the campaign. but of course not. we were covering what happened at those two events. >> speaking of a statement, i'm going to ask you about your endorsement that's coming out tomorrow night in just a second. registered voters compared to four years ago when democrats so far outnumbered republicans by just about 100,000, now when you put the numbers up from 2012, it's pretty much dead even. do you think the race in iowa will come down to uncommitted voters? >> i think really now it's down to whichever party gets out the vote. and i'll include in that gets out the no-party voters. those independent voters as well. swings them over. but we pulled a month ago, and

90% of people in iowa had already made up their mind among likely voters. so that truly uncommitted is a very small slice. it's really going to come down to how many people get out to vote on election day. and both parties are very much spinning the numbers. iowa is one of the earliest voting states. >> no, spinning? get out of here. >> oh, right. iowans have been voting for a month now and they've been tracking how many have been requested and how many have been rernd. democrats jumped out to a very big lead. they say they have the best strategy here and that that big lead in early voting will carry the day. republicans say they can tamp down on the early voting and turn out more voters on election day and say they have the winning strategy. >> what about that endorsement

four years ago. your paper endorsed obama. can you give me a hints? comes out tomorrow night. >> no hints whatsoever. the editorial board takes that decision very seriously and it's very sesecretive. no one else in the news room knows. we'll look at des moines register.com and all know that too. >> we appreciate you talking to us from iowa. thank you. speaking of swing states, several releasing more political advertising than ever before. this is how close this race is. plus, michael bloomberg expected to address preparations for this, sandy, hurricane sandy any minute now. we're watching the storm's path for you. that's next. what if there was a new way to deal with money

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state, it's practical impossible to turn on the tv, flip on the radio without being bombarded by these campaign ads. there's a lot of money being spent. it's the most expensive presidential campaign in history. let's be honest, a lot of these ads, down right ugly. and here we are 11 days out, expect it to get worse. john avalon is pulling back the curtain. what did you find? >> reporter: if you want to find out what's really going on in the late stages of a campaign, follow the money. it is ugly. it outpaces anything we have ever seen before, especially in swing states. if you look at a map of how the money is being spent, the campaigns and the super pacs are allocating it clearly in the swing states. that's where the ads are being

placed. and it's unprecedently negative. that's because of the super pacs. and a new study out that it's impressively negative. americans for prosperity, crossroads gps and also the chamber of commerce account for more spend ng this campaign than the next 17 outside groups combined. so you've got a late inning money coming from the right. that's where the campaign is being fought right now. on the air waves, it's a race to the bottom, unfortunately, as well as a race to election day. brooke? snoop top of the hour. brooke baldwin. the response now pouring in. before we get to that, we have to talk about the storm that is

forcing romney's campaign to change travel plans. hurricane sandy targeting the northeast. and i want you to look at this. this is a picture from space. clearly it is a massive, massive storm, so huge it would cover the geographic distance if you mapped out memphis all the way westward to los angeles. officials in several states along the east coast already preparing for the worst. high winds, power outages. you said the winds have decreased, still a hurricane, still a huge deal. >> there are no convection around the eye. the that happened last night. now moist air is getting back into it. going to generate itself against a little bit. right now it looks terrible. that's great news. the longer it looks terrible, the least it will grow. the center is right there.

not even a thermo theunderstorm. tropical storm watches. most of the day today i think we'll probably see those winds 40 mile per hour at the most. here's the story. the storm may be all the way from long island to north carolina. that is a big, wide swath. because it's still so far away. when we know it's 12 hours away, we'll know 50 miles one way or the other. it could be seven miles across here. one way or the other could make a huge difference whether it comes here and floods new york harbor or way down south new york doesn't get anything except wind. this is how hard it's going to be. remember what iron did to all the forecasters made us nuts because it really destroyed vermont but didn't do much for

new york city even though that was the forecast. here are the computer models. they all turn to the left. anywhere from boston to about washington, d.c. >> we could talk snow, flooding, power out ages. what is concern number one? >> i would say along the coast there will be huge waves. 25 feet high. that could knock down homes, certainly a lot of beach erosion. that would be from maine down to boston. and a lot of snow back out here because the moisture is going to come from the ocean but the air here is going to be 30 degrees so we could get bliz ards on the west side. >> we'll be talking about this for days, i know. something else we're talking about at least 11 more days. the latest poll numbers confirm this will be a nail biter of an election. today the two campaigns are honing in on one specific

number. and that is 2%. that is the annual rate at which the nation's gross domestic product grew between the months of july and september. it's the broughtest grade on how our economy is doing. talked to the president, he says this is just prove of a recovery, since the gdp. prius quarter was 1.3%. but his challenger also using 2% in his favor, gave the speech in iowa, the back drop was a construction company, it's a small business that got $2 million from obama's stimulus. here is mitt romney last hour. >> today we received by the way the latest round of discouraging economic news. last quarter our economy grew at just 2%. after the stimulus was passed. s white house promised that the economy would now be growing at 4.3%. over twice as fast. slow economic growth means slow job growth and declining

take-home pay. that's what four years of president obama's policies have produced. americans are ready for change. for growth, for jobs, for more take-home pay and we're going to bring it to them. now, you know we've had four presidential and vice presidential debates. and there's nothing in what the president proposed or defended that has any prospect of meeting the challenges of the times. rising taxes will not grow jobs or ignite the economy. in fact his tax plan has been calculated to destroy 700,000 jobs. a new stimulus, three years after the recession officially ended, that makes fair government, but it won't stim late the private sector any better than it did four years ago. and cutting a trillion dollars from the military would kill jobs and deaf state our national defense. this is not the time to double

down on trickle down government policies that have failed ugs. it's time for new bold changes that can bring america's families the certainty to the future will be better than the past. if paul ryan and i are elected as your president and vice president, we well endeavor with all our hearts to restore america. instead of more spending and borrowing from china, we'll renew our faith in the power of free people pursuing our dreams. we'll start our plan for a stronger middle class that has five elements. one, we're going to act to put america on track to a balanced budget by eliminating unnecessary programs, bee sending programs back to states where they can be managed with less abuse and less cost and by shrinking the bureaucracy in washington. number two. we'll produce more of the energy we need to heat our homes, fill our cars and make our economy

grow. we will stop the obama war on coal, the disdain for oil and the effort to crimp natural gas by regulation of the very technology that produces it. we're going to support nuclear and renewables. but we'll phase out subsidies once an industry is on its feet. and rather than investing in solar companies, we'll invest in science and research to make discoveries that can change our energy world and by 2020 we will achieve north american energy independence. we'll make trade work for america. we'll finally hold accountable any nation that doesn't play by the rules. look, i'm going to stand up for the rights and interests of american workers and employers, and four, we're going to grow

jobs by making america the best place for job creators, for entrepreneurs, for small business, for innovators, for manufacturers. this will be updating and reshaping regulations to encourage growth by closing loopholes and by making it clear from day one that unlike the current administration, we actually like business. and the jobs that business creates. and finally, as we create more opportunity, we'll make sure that our citizens have the skills they need to succeed. training programs are going to be shaped by the states where people live. and schools will put the interests of our kids and their parents and their teachers above the interests of the teachers unions. look, when we do those five things, this economy is going to come roaring back. we're going to create 12 million new jobs in just four years. >> mitt romney in ames, iowa.

instant analysis with ali velshi. there was nothing new there, this was an opportunity for mitt romney to get out in a key state and get folks excited and get them to vote. i want to harp on the economy and to do that let's show a couple of polls here. >> it's good for me that somebody wants to harp on the economy today because i was told that was a major economic speech. it was a best of collection that he's been saying for the last few months. >> there you go. moving on. nbc news "wall street journal" poll you can see who is doing a better job with the economy. here you can see cbs news, mitt romney just a little advantage over the president. let's just get real. you've been hearing these plans from both candidates. what are you hearing? >> yeah. well, so here's how it divides up. it depends what you think the economy is? is it gdp which guys like me look at or do you divide it into

specific things? if you think the biggest problem with the economy is deficit and debt, mitt romney blows barack obama out of the on that. people who think that's the most important thing, choose mitt romney. if you think health care is the most important issue, then barack obama wins that one. and if you think it's jobs, that sort of splits down the middle. so what's the economy you're talking about? mitt romney, like i said, both of these polls give either of them a little edge, but it depend on what, when you ask the question, what the voter is thinking about when they say the economy. if i want a better job or a raise or health care coverage or i want this country to get out of debt. >> what about the voters now? these undecided, uncommitted, perhaps independents. we're throwing all these numbers out. we're talking this 2% and next friday the jobless number, the unemployment number before the election. if i'm trying to figure out who the heck to vote for am i

looking at those numbers or my own economy bl i vote? >> you probably have a better sense tft economy than the gdp number gives you. you know whether it feels better than it did a year ago. it's an important number because it's a very big measurement so we want to see how it's going. but let me give you examples. china running at about 7% gdp growth, india at about 5%. we're at 2%. we thought we were going to get 1.7%, so it's better than that. the last quarter was 1.3%. so it's better than that. but in order to create these 12 million jobs that both barack obama and mitt romney say can be created under their presidency, you would have to have at least 4% economic growth and that's what mitt romney is harping on that 2 is half of 4, it's not even half of a strong economy as we need. i don't know how much a president can do about that. mitt romney is trying to convince people that if you elect him he will enact policies

largely having to do with tax cuts which will spur economic growth that will get us from 2, 3 and ultimately 4. >> and that's when the math workings correctly. >> yeah. 4 is good. >> okay. ali velshi, because we want to see you in that dress when the gdp reaches 4%. so swing states, we know they're important, so do these campaigns. just look at the president's schedule. hitting five of them next week. florida, virginia, wisconsin, ohio, colorado. all of that by wednesday. in colorado, this thing is really a dead heat. the latest poll shows romney and obama both at 48%. what does that mean? 1% of the voters could decide who wins the state's nine electoral votes and colorado is where we find miguel marquez. >> reporter: here we are, rocky mountain high in golden colorado. this is jefferson county. it's one of the most competitive

counties in this state. both campaigns are working this county very hard. it's because as little at 20 or 30 thousand votes across the entire state of colorado could paint this state red or blue. that's as little as 1% of the overall votes statewide. >> the first step is always the hardest. >> reporter: spencer has run apex adventure trips. >> so this is the office? >> reporter: he now has 20 guides. this year the company's biggest. 3,000 trips, everything from rappelling to back country skiing. the business expanded by keeping prices low and taking advantages of people staying close to home. >> what do you hope for the next four years? >> the more people that we can raise the bar for equal pay. the more that we can feel inclusion in the state.

>> reporter: while some have weathered the recession well, colorado continues to struggle. the unemployment rate about 8% here in jufr son county, it's about 7.4. just a little better. >> this is the new restaurant. >> the nunez family pitching in on a new venture. a family restaurant. authentic cuisine from gloria nunez. now 74 she is sea known as grandma. >> reporter: what do you hope to see in the next few years? >> well, i think one of the most important things is the economy. to go up a little. >> now the restaurant is run out of a strip mall. soon a new building, a liquor license and as many as 15 new employees. but this family is still agonizing over which candidate is best for the future. >> what makes this area so

competitive? as you consider the numbers in terms of how the hispanic population is growing. not only here but across the country, we have an important voice. >> latinos, business owners and newer residents ready to deliver colorado's crucial electoral votes, they could decide who takes the white house. >> reporter: now, one interesting thing about colorado is there's more unaffiliated or independent voters here than there are democrats or republicans. the president comes back to colorado, this is his 12th trip this year to the state. he's going to be colorado springs, that's conservative country. so both campaigns trying to get the vote out here. >> miguel marquez, thank you very much. coming up next, the "b" swing state getting bombarded by election ads, the state of ohio. plus the top romney

. in the first half of october, the obama campaign

received $90 million in donations. impressive, but romney did better. from october 1 through october 17, $112 million were brought in. this is according to his campaign. and they also say of that money, 92% was donations of $250 or less. plus the campaign has $169 million in cash on hand. no doubt some of that money will be going to the swing state of ohio. and let's go there to martin savage who is live in cleveland. this state has never seen this kind of money spent on political advertising. >> absolutely nuts. every television advertiser and buying of time person can't believe it. they're absolutely numb with the work they've been putting in. if you don't live in north east ohio, there's no way to describe to you the barrage the campaigns are delivering.

one woman said it's like standing in front of a firing squad that just keeps reloading. every day they're messing up traffic and people here are so over the campaign. but let's talk about the money. in the state of ohio, the two candidates have spent $177 million so far in television advertising. many of that money has been spent right here in northeast ohio to buy television time. in 2008, campaign ads on television cast about $36 million. that's what was spent for that big year. in 2010 they spent 44 million. this year so far they have spent 88 million. some say $97 million in advertising in the city of cleveland. the price to buy a 30-second spot on the 6:00 news has jumped 400% in this town. and i'll just leave you with one last fun fact. if you were to take all the ads

that have been running on cleveland television, the campaign ads sensei the beginning of october. if you took those ads and ran them back to back to back to back, you wouldn't get up for 4 1/2 days watching them 24 hours a day. >> tell these folks they have 11 more days to go. assuming this all goes as planned. thank you so much for us in cleveland. coming up next here, more fallout involving the lance armstrong doping scandal. i have a cold... i took dayquil,

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lance armstrong's fall from grace just got a little deeper. just a couple of hours ago, cycling's governing body asked him to return all his prize money. history books will now show no winner from the tour de france all the way from 199 through 2005. those are the years armstrong won allegedly with the help of these performance enhancing drugs. tomorrow night we are airing this powerful documentary. it contains from his deposition

back to 2005. >> the united states anti-doping agency says he was a drug cheat. part of the conspiracy by the u.s. postal service team. >> the totality of the evidence is overweming. you're looking at the bernie madoff of sport. he couldn't have done it alone. >> when money is involved, big money, then of course the cheats come as well. >> lance armstrong entered cycling as a brash young competitor. full of enthusiasm but limited in his all around ability. his monitor then was the australian race er phil anderso >> did he strike you in those days as a psych letter that could win the tour de france.

>> for me, no. he wasn't particularly strong in those two areas. to me he didn't have what it took in those early years. >> lance armstrong was then, with the american motorola team. so too was steven swart. steven swart says that in 1995, when phil anderson had left the team, the riders complained that the european opponents were doping. >> did you talk with lance armstrong about the need to start using epo to be competitive? >> we had -- we had a discussion about it, yeah. >> what did mr. armstrong say? >> he said if we're going to the tour, we've got to -- we've got to perform. we need the results. >> what did that mean? >> i think you didn't have to be

a rocket scientist to figure it, you know? if we were going to be competitive, there was only one road to take. >> was there a discussion about doping in any way with mr. swart? >> the only aspect that is true is that he was on the team. beyond that, not true. >> you don't want to miss cnn's special documentary. it's called "the world according to lance armstrong." set the dvr, 9:00 eastern tomorrow night here on cnn. if you were not watching last night, you missed a moment that has everyone talking today. one of mitt romney's top advisers suggests that clone powell endorsed barack obama baus of race. all of this comes this election could be the deepest racial split since 1988. that impact, next.

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sununu may be backing away from his remarks. but before i get to his clarification, let me set this up. this is last night's clip that began this whole thing. >> collin powell is it time he left the party? >> i do like the fact that his boss george h.w. bush has endorsed mitt romney all along. and when you take a look at colin powell you have to wonder if that's an endorsement based on issues or whether he's got a slightly different reason for preferring president obama. >> what reason would that be? >> i think when you have somebody of your own race that you're proud of being president in the united states, i applaud colin for standing with him.

>> colin powell is a friend and i respect the endorsement decision that he made and i do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the president's policies. piers morgan's question was whether he should leave the party and i don't think he should. on that, let me bring in peter wellston. just quickly your reaction to sununu's clarification. >> well, he clearly realized that he stepped in it. he had to fix it. you know, colin powell is a popular figure, one of the most popular figures to all americans. so when you start questioning his motives that might be different than the motives he laid out in his endorsement, that's not going to sound good to most people, black or white. so it sounds like he realized it was a problem and he wanted to step out of it. >> okay. on race, we read this article it was yesterday in the post.

it was all about race in this presidential election. it was this article yesterday that basically was reporting that this 2012 may have the deepest racial split since 1988. among whites obama is currently doing much worse than he did in 2008. how much worse? >> significantly worse. in 2008 he won 43% of the white vote, which is very good for a democrat. the last democrat to do that well was bill clinton in 1996. most democrats in modern politics do mid to high 30s. so for obama to win 43% as the first african-american president, that was an incredible number. now he's down to in our poll, 37% of whites. so that's a pretty significant drop. it puts him in normal range for

democrats. walter mondale did worse than that. it shows it's a big problem. his winning coalition did rely on viet voters in addition to heavy turnout of african-american voters. >> it puts him in range, the biggest loss thus far is specifically among white men. obama trails romney double the margin that he trailed four years ago. and according to your paper's reporting, more white voters say mitt romney better understands the economic problems facing our country. you look at all the other polls that are out, mitt romney is the guy in terms of the economy. here we are, peter, a week left of campaigning. one more jobs report. if obama here has a chance with some of these white voters, is next friday it? >> it does seem like the jobs report. i was talking to a democratic strategist who was saying just suddenly yesterday this jobs report does look extremely

important for those few people who are left trying to decide. if that report gets worse, that could be problematic. that could lead to even greater slippage. >> peter, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> according to the polls, the race is so close, it got us wondering, what are the chances -- dare i say it -- a tie? oh my goodness! oh my gosh, this looks amazing! that's a good deal! [ man ] wow! it is so good! [ male announcer ] our new maine stays! 15 entrees under $15, seafood, chicken and more! oo! the tilapia with roasted vegetables! i'm actually looking at the wood grilled chicken with portobello wine sauce. you so fascinated by the prices, you keep rambling on! i know! -that pork chop was great! -no more fast food friday's! so we gotta go! we're going to go to red lobster. yep. [ male announcer ] try our 15 under $15 menu and sea food differently! [ male announcer ] try our 15 under $15 menu ♪

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i want to tell you about this reunion here for the pakistan teen who was shot in the head by a taliban trigger man for standing up for girl's rights to get an education. malala's parents and brothers are now by her bed side. this is the first video of her since she was shot and evacuated to that hospital in england just earlier this month. her father who arrived just last night from pakistan spoke about the emotional reunion. >> i love her and of course this morning, last night when we met her, there were tears in our eyes. and they were out of happy, i say. out of happiness.

>> shooting has sparked widespread outrage. thousands have protested in pakistan and now public anger has turned against the taliban and her father vows to take his family back home to pakistan. >> when she fell pakistan stood and the world rest. and this is a turning point. >> malala's doctors say she is progressing well. she doesn't appear to have any brain damage and both her vision and hearing are good. and her father says she's already asking for her school books. taking you back to politics here, suddenly it seems the obama campaign is making a late push to target the youth vote. the president speaking on mtv tonight and then this ad here. comparing voting to losing your vir jginit virginity. that's why we're supplying natural gas to

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cnn's new poll of polls which, as you know, attracts the variety of polls shows how close the presidential race is today you can see mitt romney at 48% and barack obama at 47%. so the logical question here,

what if there is a tie? each candidate gets 269 electoral votes. what happens then? cnn's chief national correspondent john king joins me live from washington. let's go there. first mathematically, how possible, how probable is that for them for them both to hit that 269 mark? >> is it met metically possible? yes. i can give you just using our battleground states, the eight states we now call toss-ups. there are three or four scenarios just using those states if nothing else changed in the map brooke where you can get you 269 to 269. is it likely, no. most of the toss-up states tend to go one way or the other. yes it is a possible scenario that you get 269 to 269 and then there will a spike in sales of the united states constitution because you have to look at it to figure out what to do and the newly elected house of representatives would pick the

president and the senate would pick the vice president under that scenario. at the moment republicans control the house. that vote is based on, you know, which party has the majority of house seats in any given state. that's how that formula was determined. let's assume fr the sake of argument, a republican house would pick the president and perhaps a democratic senate would pick the vice president. so that would be an interesting moment in history. i wouldn't bet we're going to get there, but wow, it would be a great story to cover. >> it would be kind of incredible. but let's cross or fingers that that won't happen. how about early voting? we know the president is certainly someone who doesn't have to stand in lang lines. he was in chicago last night, he early votes. nationally early voting is on the rise when you compare the numbers to 2008. conventional wisdom is we wouldn't have seen this kind of turnout because we've been reporting on lack of enthusiasm. what gives? >> we had some folks from the

obama campaign debrief us today and they they turnout will go up from 2008. they think a lot of the new turnout will help them. we'll see if that plays out on election day. what the president is doing, brooke, was part of a calculated straty of the obama campaign. he went on purpose to get the photos of him vote tg early not just a photo op for him, to send a signal to his voters. what his campaign has done is they've identified their key voters in every state and they rank you, essentially. how reliable are you. how likely is it or how unlikely might it be, bad weather, maybe you had a test, maybe you had a drink the night before. how likely are you voting on election day and they're calling those people the least reliable on their list to get them to vote early. republicans are saying they are doing better than 2008. as we crunch these numbers, some states are performing better but

as you mentioned this is increasingly part of the new habit of our democracy and most election officials think it's a good thing because overall it leads to higher turnout. >> this is certainly not something that the returns are losing sleep over because when you look at early voting numbers, one state is leaning toward romney even though the momentum appears to be toward obama and these democratic voters. not really reason to celebrate for team obama. >> the numbers if you look at some of those states, they're not as big as they were in 2008. republicans say in most states they're not going to win the early voting, but if they can make it closer, more of the voters who are traditionalists. you go state through state, both parts are trying to spin a little bit. these numbers are good or not so good for us. one of the things the obama campaign is doing very smartly and this is the luxury of not having a primary opponent, they've been working on these lists for months. the republicans are playing

catch-up to some degree. the obama campaign was working on an election day turnout operation. the republicans say they have made up. >> we'll be watching for you. we appreciate it. now to this add. lina dunham. she's been called the voice of her generation. she's the creator of the hbo series called "girls." it is paid for by the obama campaign and it's this racy play for this young female voter here and it is definitely stirring up controversy. here it is. >> your first time shouldn't be with just anybody. you want to do it with a great guy. it should be with a guy with beautiful -- someone who really understands and cares about women. a guy who cares whether you get health insurance and specifical whether you get

birth control. the consequences are huge. my first time voting was amazing. it was this line in the sand. before i was a girl, now i'm a women. i pulled back the curtain and i voted for barack obama. >> a little side note to this before we talk about the ad, this was this recent op-ed by a republican consultant saying obama is the president of cool and romney the terminally uncool. if that is the case, is there a chance this ad is too edgy? >> you know, how would your mom feel about it, i think might be the question. i don't think it's an ad that your mom is really obviously the target of. this is an online ad directed at young voters. but i don't know if you were watching twitter last night. i was, because i had a plane delay so this is how i entertain myself. it was blowing up on twitter and this is how i was passing my

time watching all back and forth. there were a lot of conservatives that thought it was tasteless and inappropriate. there were a lot of liberals who felt it's funny and tongue in cheek. i think the bottom line is brooke is it doesn't tick off a lot of people who would consider voting for president obama anyway. so i think this is maybe something that works for the obama campaign. i will say talking points memo pointing out in defense of this ad, because it did create such an uproar, that ronald reagan said something. he said i know what it's like to pull the republican lever for the first time because i used to be a democrat myself and i can tell you it only hurts for a minute and then it feels just great. this is the kind of stuff that gets really going, brooke. >> it does, as evidenced by twitter. but you know, mitt romney's campaign says women care more about abortion and health

issues. but when you look at the polls, they are suggesting that obama's lead among women, it's narrowing.yeah. there's polls that are kind of showing a bunch of different things. one of the latest ones, "the washington post," abc poll actually showing he's kind of about where he was in 2008. what exit polls showed for barack obama and john mccain. but you have other polls this month that have shown that his lead with women have almost evapora evaporated. women are dependable democratic voters. they tend to go that way for president obama as well. and he really needs to rely on them. and certainly this is a big concern. this is why you're hearing a lot of talk about the mourdock comments, about contraception and also about jobs and economic issues. but this is certainly something that president obama, i think the obama campaign, is concerned about although they're down playing some of the polls that show the lead all but evaporated, brooke. >> also important, the president reaching out to the younger demographic. he will be appearing on mtv

tonight. we'll talk about that possibly tomorrow. brianna keilar, brianna, thank you for us at the white house. the imbattled former prime minister of italy sentenced to four years today. he has already survived corruption charges, sex scandals. coming up next, how silvio burlmay have found a way to escape briz time again. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's time for medicare open enrollment. are you ready? time to compare plans and see what's new. you don't have to make changes, but it's good to look. maybe you can find better coverage, save money, or both.

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to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. italy's former prime minister silvio berlusconi was sentenced today to four years behind bars for tax fraud. he may never set a foot in prison. first to milan where the court said berlusconi was guilty for tax evasion involving his media and television empire. berlusconi is expected to appeal. just a couple hours ago he spoke to a media outlet calling the sentence "unacceptable" and added he was certain he would have been acquitted. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is live for me in rome. ben, explain this to me, despite the four year sentence, how may

he avoid time in prison? >> reporter: well, quite easily. for one thing, there's a two-tier appeal process. in addition to that the statute of limitations for these charges, this goes back to 2006, may well expire next year, in which case he's off the hook. in addition to that, if you are over the age of 70 in italy and not convicted of a violent crime or terrorism or drug-related crimes, you get to serve your time at home. so he can take advantage of all of those things. the only thing according to legal analysts that might sort of land him in jail is he's also on trial for paying for sex with a minor. in which case all of those loopholes don't exist. so he's not out of the woods quite yet. brooke. >> quite yet. ben wedeman, thank you. i'm just gettin' started. woo!

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kiptown has not changed. there's no electricity. people are living in shacks. growing up in kiptown makes you feel like you don't have control of your life. many children drop out of school because they don't have school uniforms and textbooks. i realize the only way kiptown could change was through education. i'm helping educate the children so that we can change kliptown together. we help the children by paying for school books, uniforms. our main focus is our program we

run four days a week. as young people, we are born and raised here. we know the challenges of this community. we are also doing a number of activities. we've got to come together for fun while we also come together for our academics. >> this program gave me a chance to go to university. they actually paid for my fees. that's why i come back and help out here. a little can go a long way. what subject do you study? math and science and english. exactly. i did not go to university. but being able to help them, i feel excited. >> i'm going to be an accountant. >> i'm going to be a lawyer. >> and i'm going to be a nurse. >> the work that you're doing here is bringing change. and thank you so much for being with me. i'm brooke baldwin at the cnn world headquarters in la